DC Biasing - BJTs

Transistors
 They are unidirectional current carrying devices with
capability to control the current flowing through them
 The switch current can be controlled by either current or
voltage
 Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT) control current by
current
 Field Effect Transistors (FET) control current by voltage
 They can be used either as switches or as amplifiers

2
Biasing

DC voltages applied to a transistor  to turn it ON

 so that it can amplify the AC signal.

3
Amplification

In order to get faithful amplification in a transistor, we

have to maintain the base-emitter junction forward bias
and collector-emitter junction is reverse biased.

*faithful amplification: the increase or raise in amplitude

of the input signal without changing its frequency.

4
BJT ‘Q’ Point (Bias Point)

• Q point means Quiescent or Operating point

• Very important for amplifiers because wrong ‘Q’

point selection increases amplifier distortion

• Need to have a stable ‘Q’ point, meaning the the

operating point should not be sensitive to variation to
temperature or BJT , which can vary widely

5
 Operating Point

The DC input
establishes an operating
or quiescent point called
the Q-point.

6
DC Biasing Circuits

 Fixed-bias circuit
 Emitter-stabilized bias circuit
 Voltage divider bias circuit
 DC bias with voltage feedback

7
Fixed Bias Circuit

8
Fixed Bias Circuit
Steps to do DC analysis:
1) Isolate the network from the AC levels
- Replace all capacitors by open circuit

2) Redraw the circuit.

3) Apply KVL at the input and output loop

and derive the equation.

9
Base-Emitter Loop
From Kirchhoff’s
voltage law:

+VCC – IBRB – VBE = 0

Solving for the base

current:
V V
I  CC BE

R
B

10
 Collector-Emitter Loop

The collector current is

given by:

IC   I B

From Kirchhoff’s
voltage law:
V  V I R
CE CC C C

11
Transistor Saturation Level

When the transistor is operating in the saturation

region it is conducting at maximum current flow
through the transistor.

I  I V  0V
C Csat and CE

fro V  V I R
CE CC C C

m VCC
I 
therefore Csat
RC
12
Transistor Cutoff Level

I  0A
C

fro V  V I R
CE CC C C

m
therefore V V
CE CC

13
 Load Line Analysis
The end points of the load line are:
 ICsat
o IC = VCC / RC
o VCE = 0 V
 VCEcutoff
o VCE = VCC
o IC = 0 mA
The Q-point is the particular operating point:
 where the value of RB sets the value of IB
 where IB and the load line intersect
 that sets the values of VCE and IC
14
Emitter-Stabilized Bias Circuit

Adding a resistor (RE) to

the emitter circuit
stabilizes the bias
circuit.

15
Improved Biased Stability

Adding RE to the emitter improves the stability of a

transistor.

Stability refers to a bias circuit in which the

currents and voltages will remain fairly constant
for a wide range of temperatures and transistor
Beta () values.

16
Emitter-Stabilized Bias Circuit
Steps to do DC analysis:

1) Isolate the network from the AC levels

- Replace all capacitors by open circuit

2) Redraw the circuit.

3) Apply KVL at the input and output loop

and derive the equation.

17
Base-Emitter Loop

From Kirchhoff’s voltage law :

 V -I R -V -I R
CC E E BE E E
 0

Since IE = (b + 1)IB:

V -I R -(  1)I R  0
CC B B B E

Solving for IB:

V -V
I  CC BE

R  (  1)R
B

B E

18
Collector-Emitter Loop
From Kirchhoff’s voltage law :

I R  V
E E CE
 I R V C C CC
 0

Since IE  IC:

V CE
 V – I (R  R )
CC C C E

Also: V  IR
E E E

V  V
C CE
 V V -I R
E CC C C

V  V –I R  V
B CC B B BE
 V E

19
Saturation Level

The endpoints can be determined from the load line.

VCEcutoff: ICsat: V 0V
V CE
 V
CC
CE

I  0 mA
C
I 
V
CC
C
R R
C E
20
 Voltage Divider Bias

This is a very stable bias

circuit.

The currents and voltages

are almost independent of
variations in .

21
Voltage Divider Bias

Two ways to analyze the circuit:

1) Exact analysis
2) Approximate analysis

How?
Check for RE ≥ 10R2

If YES : Use either Approximate analysis

or Exact analysis
If NO: Use Exact analysis only
22
Voltage Divider Bias

Exact Analysis:

Steps:

1) Redraw the i/p section

2) Find the thevenin equivalent circuit (TEC)
3) Replace the i/p section by the TEC
4) Derive the equations : KVL at i/p and o/p loops.

23
Exact Analysis:

Steps:
1) Redraw the i/p section

24
Exact Analysis:

Steps:
2) Find the thevenin equivalent circuit (TEC)

Determining RTH:

R R R
TH 1 2

25
Exact Analysis:

Steps:
2) Find the thevenin equivalent circuit (TEC)

Determining VTH:

R
V V 2

R R
TH CC

1 2

26
Exact Analysis:

Steps:
3) Replace the i/p section by the TEC
4) Derive the equations
V I R V I R
TH B TH BE E E

Since I     1 I
E B

V  I R  V     1 I R
TH B TH BE B E

therefore V V
I  TH BE

R     1 R
B

TH E

27
Collector-Emitter Loop
From Kirchhoff’s voltage law :

I R  V
E E CE
 I R V C C CC
 0

Since IE  IC:

V CE
 V – I (R  R )
CC C C E

Also: V  I R E E E

V  V
C CE
 V V -I R E CC C C

V  V –I R
B TH B TH
 V BE
 V E

28
Voltage Divider Bias Analysis
Transistor Saturation Level
V
I I  CC

R R
Csat Cmax

C E

Load Line Analysis

Cutoff: Saturation:

V V CE CC
I
C

VCC
R C R E

I  0mA
C
V CE
 0V

29
Approximate Analysis:

1. Check for RE ≥ 10R2

where Ri = (β+1)RE ≈ βRE

Ri = the equivalent resistance between base and ground

30
if RE ≥ 10R2 approximate approach can be applied
If Ri >> R2, the current IB << I2
**current always seeks the path of least resistance

And I1 will be approximately equal to I2 , ( I1 ≈ I2 )

Therefore, voltage across R2:
V R
V V  CC 2

R R
R2 B

1 2

Once Vb is determined,
V  V V
E B BE

thus V
I  E

R
E

And ICQ ≈ IE
31
END OF
CHAPTER 3 – PART 2..

Thank You